End Of An Era
by hundredtimes
Summary: Their cover is blown, and Batgirl reacts. Dick/Babs, Wally/Artemis. One-Shot. Complete.


The second Kaldur's shot was fired, the Team froze. Who had been hit? Who would they mourn this time, at Kaldur's hands? But when none of them heard shrieks of pain from their ranks, when they each looked to the other members they cared most about. When Barbara turned to Nightwing, and only saw him gaping ahead at the enemies ranks. They all saw where Kaldur's spear had met its mar, behind him, in the black suit of his father's costume.

Barbara heard Dick's voice in her mind, "Miss Martian, add Tigress and Aqualad to the psychic link."

"But- Nightwing-" She wasn't the only one confused, Barbara could feel it in waves from her teammates, could feel it in her own heart. What the hell was he doing?

"JUST DO IT!"

But then they heard Wally's pitiful whisper, "_Artemis."_

Before she could spare him a glance of shared sadness, she heard Dick's voice again, communicating to the traitor and the infiltrator, "with your cover blown, it won't take long for them to doubt Tigress. I need you both at the bioship now! We're leaving. Everyone fall back!" Without hesitation, they did as he said. All except Wally who ran at top speeds to Tigress, at least that's what Barbara assumed when she blinked and the young woman she thought was her enemy was being gripped like a lifeline by a friend she'd _thought_ was still in mourning. "**WALLY! NOW!**" Dick's voice snapped the few of them that remained into doing what was necessary. Black Manta's troops were gaining on them, obviously called by their leader when his protégé showed his true allegiance.

When they were on the bioship, the silence was deafening. Until she heard Zatanna's voice, "You can take it off now." She was looking straight ahead, and her voice held an edge of harshness like Barbara had rarely ever heard. Unless directed at Dick, but even then it had only been in recent months. Zatanna been acting strange ever since Tigress had found a way into Mt. Justice, but they had been able to thwart her plans, to regain control. Barbara didn't understand why she had felt the need to continue blaming him. Though she currently understood her cold demeanor. Or she thought she did.

She heard the unfamiliar brunette sigh, she turned to glare at her and saw her fingers fiddling with a necklace. When she removed it the blonde hair was instantly recognizable.

Barbara felt the bioship lurch left as M'Gann's hands left the controls. The tension was palpable. Wally's reaction was obvious now; and to a lesser extent, his close proximity, the sneaking glances and whispered touches she had noticed him placing on her since they had left New Orleans. The strange way he had seemed to flirt with Tigress when they fought, but Babs had ignored because it just didn't make sense. All of the odd behavior she didn't have the heart to address because it made her ache so badly to think of her best friend forgotten by the love of her life and for an enemy of all people. It felt like her heart was soaring. Wally hadn't forgotten Artemis, Artemis wasn't dead!

She wasn't dead. Without a care to the situation or how it came about, Babs leapt from her seat at the girl she considered her sister.

They would all eventually answer the questions rising in her mind. Dick especially, she thought as her eyes shifted to him and she felt her stomach sink dually at the guilt she read in the lines on his face, and at the knowledge that he'd kept this from her.

But for now. For now, Artemis was alive.

She pulled away and saw so much relief in Artemis's eyes, "I am so freaking mad at you right now," Babs tried to say forcefully. But she felt the tears running down her face, and knew now wasn't the time for questions and answers.

There would be more than enough of that when they returned and explained the situation to the Team, and the Justice League. She knew it would be a long while until she saw any of them: Artemis, Kaldur... Dick. She saw Wally out of the corner of her eye. Saw his lack of sudden relief and joy at his girlfriend being dead. She put the pieces together. The glances and the touches before her identity was even revealed, the lack of reaction. She wouldn't be seeing much of Wally until the questioning was over either, she suspected.

The second the bioship touched down, and Kaldur and Artemis stepped out of the ship hesitantly, to face waiting Justice League members that Nightwing had called, their faces turned grim. She saw Flash look stare at Artemis before turning his gaze to his nephew, "Wally, wh-" but Batman held up his hand to stop him from continuing. "All of you, to the control room, _now_."

It was then that Nightwing, followed by Wally, Artemis, and Kaldur stepped forward, "it was only the four of us. You can ask them questions if you want, but you'll be wasting your time. None of them knew anything about it." Babs tried to catch his eye, tried to ask him, through their own version of a mental link, what exactly was going on. But he made the obvious physical effort to ignore her. It was a slap to the face. She realized it then. He'd done it, he'd become it: what he'd always said he never wanted. He had become like Batman. No. He _was _Batman. In every meaning of the name. She felt the ice wash over her, and she felt the truth of what this meant. They would never be the same again.


End file.
